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JMJ
Do you have a prayer request? A special need? Well, I spent all night placing a live webcam to Lourdes, France on my website, including a little mailbox to their prayer request email. All kinds of weird computer problems kept cropping up, and I kept offering them up as a prayer, which did help to keep me from being annoyed. Then...
This morning I got an email from a friend who told me that today is OUR LADY OF LOURDES FEAST DAY! Wow. I had no idea! That is just so cool...
Anyway, I just love Mary. I didn't say I worship her. That would be a grave sin. :o But of course we should honor and venerate her. We honor the mothers of Presidents don't we? Aren't you honored when someone honors your Mother and says what a wonderful son or daughter she's raised. Yes, of course. You beam with pride and gratitude for all she did for you. You think, "Yep. That's my Mom...gotta love her." ;)
She has many beloved titles. My favorite is "Ark of the New Covenant". She's called this because just as the Ark of the Old Covenant carried inside the Word of God, the manna from heaven, and the staff of Aaron; so too Mary carried inside her womb the Word made flesh, the Bread of Life and the Good Shepherd. Now that's some precious cargo! You wouldn't entrust that to just anyone, especially these days!
Revelations describes how the temple opened up and the Ark of His Covenant appeared in the sky, which then becomes a woman giving birth while a dragon tries to steal her baby. Her child was a son who is destined to rule all the nations with an iron hand. (Rev 11:19-12:5) Now who would this woman and son be?? Hmmm??? Then, when the dragon can't get the son, he goes after the mother; and when he can't get her, he goes after the rest of her offspring, who are described as "those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus."(Rev 12:17) I hope that would be us. :) We try anyway...and that... would make her our Mom too! If she hadn't said "Yes, be it done unto me according to Thy will," there would be no Jesus and no redemption for us.
Catholics also call her the "Blessed Virgin" because it says in the Bible that all generations shall call her that. Our Lady is another favorite title which means that she is our mother too. Aren't we adopted brothers and sisters of Christ?
Now we can't pray to her, because she isn't God.
But you do ask your friends and family to pray for you don't you? It's called intercessory prayer. I know, I know, "How can you pray to a dead person?" right? Now, are the souls in Heaven living or dead? Of course they're more alive than we are, and besides, they have a lot of time on their hands.:) I'm sure they'd be more than happy to pray for us. I know I'll be praying for my kids after I'm gone! :)
And we know that she interceded at the Wedding of Cana for the family who ran out of wine. Jesus told her it wasn't time for a miracle yet, and she did what a good Jewish mother does...a little persuading...you know what I mean?(nod yes and wink) She was just like, "Oh really?...(hand on hip)...You won't do a miracle for your motha??" I know the Bible doesn't say that, but Jewish moms do have that look they give their sons you know?... All she did was turn to the servants and say, "Do whatever He tells you to do." And walks away. (That's what she tells all her kids.)
What can a good son do?(palms up) He broke the rules and performed His first miracle just for her! That's why Catholics ask her to pray for us. The Bible says that the prayers of the righteous man are very powerful (James 5:16), and who's more righteous than the woman chosen to give birth to God? I mean she's the spouse of the Holy Spirit!!! I mean, how many human beings in the history of mankind can make that claim?Huh???
Okay. Fastforward to February 11, 1858. A poor young girl is gathering firewood and bones at the garbage dump near a little cave, called a grotto (Mary only appears to the humble), when she had her first of 18 visions of the Blessed Mother. Of course people of the town wanted to put her in the asylum!... especially when "the little lady", as she called her, told her to start digging in
